Hello Stranger is an experimental design method and game that that aims to heighten critical engagement within participatory design processes. By employing estrangement devices and aspects of play theory, it uses “question-making” as a strategy to recalibrate how players report the overfamiliar and immediate. Developed and played with members of staff at the V&A Museum of Childhood, it was devised as a tool to sense the museum anew and reflect upon the experiences it offers and the qualities it values at a time of re-evaluation and redevelopment.

The key themes that form the basis for the questions were identified over a three-month period of observations and conversations with staff across departments and visiting members of the public. Chance had allowed the varied theme cards to be distributed indiscriminately–from security and collections department to the director and operations, while anonymity of responses momentarily dissolved hierarchies of power, leaving behind the multiple opinions and ideas that form the questions in this internal document.

The resultant questions, however large or small, provided compelling insights into the institutional model. The responses harvested by ‘Hello Stranger’ are shared with stakeholders, architects and designer to inform design decision making.